Literacy in North America circa 2005

In a local Chapters tonight I noticed that books by Cervantes were filed under "D" when they are allegedly to be filed alphabetically by author. There are two plausible explanations for this. Perhaps someone somehow assumed that "Don Quixote" was the name of the author and not the title of the book. Alternately, someone saw books by Miguel de Cervantes, and assumed that the "de" was part of his proper surname. Either way, it's disconcerting to think that even those working in a bookstore lack the functional literacy to complete the relatively simple task of putting away Don Quixote, the first modern novel and a true classic, in the right place.

I wonder about the Danielle Steele books, I bet they were in perfect order.